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Australia's gold-medal winning medley relay team.Photo: Tim Clayton

Australia's medley girls win gold

Michael Cowley | August 17, 2008

There have been some highs, and some lows for the members of
Australia's women's medley relay team in Beijing, but they will
each leave town with an Olympic gold medal courtesy of their world
record performance in the swimming program's penultimate event.

Leisel Jones and Libby Trickett were both favoured to win gold
in their individual events. They both won once, but both also
suffered upset losses, Jones in the 200m breaststroke, Trickett in
the 50m and 100m freestyle.

Teenager Emily Seebohm was reduced to tears after missing the
100m backstroke final, and Jess Schipper managed two bronze medals
in the butterfly events, one while watching her 200m world record
disappear.

But today, together, they were world beaters, clocking 3 minutes
52.69 seconds in the 4 x 100m medley relay, slashing 3.05 seconds
from the world record they had set at the world championships in
Melbourne in 2007.

A brilliant lead-off swim by 16-year-old backstroker Seebohm,
where she clocked 59.33s - an Australian record - to keep Australia
close enough to US star Natalie Coughlin was a key for to
success.

By the end of the breaststroke leg, Jones had put the Australian
team in front, Schipper held the break of just under a second
through the butterfly leg, then it was up to to Trickett to bring
it home.

Swimming a controlled first lap, she was not bothered when
American 41-year-old mother Dara Torres came at her. They turned
and Trickett kicked, not clear, but giving herself some breathing
room. Torres would make one more challenge, but to no avail.

The US also went well under the old world record with their 3
minute 53.30 second swim. For Torres it was her 11th Olympic medal,
four of which are gold, won over five Games dating back to 1984 in
Los Angeles. The home nation China grabbed the bronze.

"It's great. This thing is about sharing," said Jones. World
records don't just happen, it takes a team."

Added Seebohm: "It was great to finish on such a high note. I
had a great time, so much fun to do it with your friends."

Said Trickett: "It was such a tough race that we had on our
hands. Every individual swimmer had to be the best possible. All
the girls did a great job.

"We get along so well as a team. It's not hard to swim fast when
you have three great girls supporting you all the way through.

"So I'm really proud of the girls. They did a really great job.
They lifted beyond their means. It's fantastic."